Nobody Talks About What Brand Deals Actually Pay Therapists

Learn what brands want and what to charge

Fancy being an influencer?

Nobody talks about the real numbers.

Not the brands.
Not the bigger accounts.
Not the therapists already quietly doing it.

So most of us assume brand deals are something that happens to other people. Wellness influencers. The ones with the ring lights and the suspiciously photogenic matcha.

Not us.

But I think we need to talk about it properly.

Because more therapists are starting to build audiences. Some through Instagram. Some through Substack. Some through podcasts, books, workshops, training, blogs or small communities.

And once you have an audience, however small, you may start to attract opportunities.

A therapy platform asks if you’d share a discount code.
A training provider offers you an affiliate link.
A publisher sends you a book.
A notes platform asks if you’ll mention them.
A wellbeing brand wants to “collaborate.”
A company offers you money for a sponsored post.

And suddenly you’re not just a therapist sharing useful things online.

You’re in the world of influence.

That can feel exciting.

It can also feel uncomfortable.

Because this is where it gets complicated for us. Therapists are not beauty influencers. We are regulated professionals. Our audiences may include clients, former clients, vulnerable people, supervisees, students, colleagues and people who deeply trust our judgement.

So when we put our name next to something, that trust is the asset we are spending.

This does not mean therapists should never work with brands. I don’t think that at all.

But I do think we need to understand the opportunity, the ethics, the numbers and the risks before we stumble into them.

Because follower count is not the whole story.

A therapist with 8,000 highly engaged, highly specific followers may be more valuable to the right brand than a generic account with 80,000 passive followers.

And that is the bit many therapists miss, you may be sitting there thinking, my account isn’t big enough yet.

But it might not be that your account is too small.

It might be that it isn’t specific enough yet.

That’s a very different problem. And a much more fixable one.

For paid members, I’m getting into the practical side of brand work for therapists: what brands actually want, what follower numbers can mean, what you might charge, what to say in a pitch, what to disclose, and what to turn down.